Rahall Votes to Support U.S. Troops, National Guard and Military Families

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) late Thursday voted for passage of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Appropriations bill, providing essential resources and increased support for military troops, their families, and retirees.

"All of our troops, including those in our Guard service, deserve the best training, equipment, and resources available to do the job their country asks of them," said Rahall, a senior member of the National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus. "Reckless budget whackers need to stand down and take a step back to review the extraordinary job our troops have been doing on two fronts, abroad and here at home. Dual missions demand a doubling our support for our troops."

The FY 2013 Defense Appropriations bill provides service members with a 1.7 percent pay increase, along with basic allowances for housing and subsistence for military members and their families. Funding was included for wide-ranging health care programs for our troops, their families, and retirees, as well as for suicide prevention programs and outreach measures and health care research related to traumatic brain injuries and cancer research.

The bill also includes funding for the National Guard and Reserves to procure high-priority equipment for both their combat missions and their missions in support of state governors, along with additional funds for Guard counter-drug programs and for civil-military programs aimed to improve the life skills and employment potential of youths who drop out of secondary school by providing military-based training from the Guard.

"Our Nation must ensure that our service members, as well as their families, have access not only to the health care and benefits they have earned, but also to the family support services and advocacy programs they may need as they transition back to civilian life," said Rahall. "As the Congress works to craft legislation that will address our Nation's deficits, I am fighting hard to ensure that any cuts that are imposed would not harm our active-duty troops and their families, military retirees, and veterans who have already sacrificed so much for our Nation."

In West Virginia, there are more than 6,500 West Virginia Guardsmen and 33 National Guard units throughout the State, including several located in southern West Virginia -- Bluefield, Glen Jean, Huntington, Kenova, Maxwelton, Monaville, Point Pleasant, Summersville, Welch, and Williamson. Additionally, the State has 20 U.S. Army Reserve facilities with a stationed population of more than 2,000 Reservists, as well as approximately 1,000 Active Army personnel. Currently, there are 159 West Virginia Guardsmen serving overseas.

The Defense Appropriations bill passed the House late Thursday by a vote of 326-90 and now awaits action in Senate.

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